


fine

by lucacore



Category: Doctor Who, 逆転裁判 | Gyakuten Saiban | Ace Attorney
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-22
Updated: 2016-09-22
Packaged: 2018-08-16 18:36:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8113012
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucacore/pseuds/lucacore
Summary: Miles Edgeworth has a panic attack, and the Doctor doesn't know what to do.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This was written on my phone in like 1 hour, I apologize for any mistakes I might have missed.  
> (Also I didn't specify which Doctor, could be anyone from the new series I guess, but I wrote it with Ten in mind, so he'll probably fit the best)

It had happened so suddenly.  
One second they had been happily chatting, about what the Doctor doesn't even know anymore, the next his companion had been lying on the ground, curled up like a ball, shaking and crying, seemingly oblivious to the world surrounding him and very obviously not fine.  
And still, the Doctor is just standing there, hovering awkwardly a few feet away, because it had all happened so suddenly, and he _doesn't know what to do._  
Hell, he doesn't even know what set this of, was it something he did, something he said, or something else entirely? He doesn't know, of course he doesn't, he never asked, why did he never ask, what was he thinking?   
But then again, how should he have known, how could he have known? Sure there had been some worrying signs,  
_“Aaand... Here we ar- ... Miles, you look pale, are you alright?"_  
but his companion had been fast (so fast, too fast, _how could he not have noticed_?) to deflect the questions  
_"Oh, it's nothing, Doctor. The turbulences just took me by surprise, that's all. Nothing you need to worry about. Where are we anyway?"_  
the Doctor had never taken any of it seriously, had assumed he was just seeing things that weren't really there.   
But they had been there, they had been real, and now he had to deal with it.  
Yet, he is still just standing there, staring, unable to help, or move, or _think_. Because this is unexpected, and, if he is honest, it scares him, and he doesn't know what to do. Miles has always seemed so strong, so stable, able to take whatever happened and deal with it. He had seemed _fine_.  
(But so do you, a voice in his head is saying, so do you and we both now this is just a lie, a lie you tell yourself to keep others from worrying, and to protect yourself. How could you not notice?)  
And he should have, he really should, and looking at Miles now he sees himself, at night when the nightmares become too much, and the thoughts, the memories just won't stop -  
_blood and fire and smoke and death death everywhere it's too much everything's too much the screams the never ending screams and death everywhere and his hand on the switch and he can't he can't he can't do it he CAN'T but he has to it's the only way he has to and he presses down and then - silence a silence so loud he thinks his head is bursting and he's screaming he must be screaming but he can't hear anything everything's gone there's no sound there's no light there's no people he's alone apart from him there's n o t h i n -_  
And then, Miles starts talking, quiet words, choked out between sobs and gasps for breath, barely recognizable, but still there; whether it's a plea or an attempt to calm himself is unclear, but still he listens anyway, to the never ending stream of words, I'm fine I'm fine I'm fine it's okay I'm alright nothing can happen _I'm fine_ , and that's enough to finally snap the Doctor out of his stupor, he flinches, and finally he can move again.  
He's at his companions side in an instant, turning him around and pulling him up, wrapping his arms around the other in the process until they're both sitting on the ground.  
Had Miles flinched, or pulled away, the Doctor wouldn't have been surprised, on the contrary, but instead the other melts into his touch, grips the front of his suit with both hands, clearly looking for something to hold on to.  
It does little to calm him, if anything he seems to be getting worse, his sobs increasing in intensity and the time between them decreasing, but the Doctor didn't expect anything different.  
He tightens his grip on the other, pulling him even closer, careful to not overdo it before he starts speaking.  
"Miles," he starts, his voice low and even, "Miles, breathe with me." And he starts taking slow, deliberate breaths, and although at first nothing happens, the Doctor keeps holding on to the other, rubbing slow circles on his back and mumbling words of encouragement, you can do it I'm here you're not alone you can do it.  
(You're fine, he doesn't say, because that would be a lie, at least at the moment.)  
And slowly, so very slowly, Miles' breathing slows and his sobs become fewer and fewer until finally he's calmed down enough that he falls asleep, utterly exhausted.  
Despite that, the Doctor doesn't stop talking, and he doesn't let go; eventually though, his grip gets weaker, and his words slower, until he, too, has fallen asleep.   
When they wake up again, he and Miles will need to have a serious talk about what happened, and, more importantly, what triggered it, so that it hopefully will never happen again; but for now, the two of them just sleep, right there on the TARDIS floor, still holding onto each other.  
Both are too exhausted to dream.  
(And although _I'm fine_ might be a lie, that doesn't mean that that's all it'll ever be.)


End file.
